US Payrolls Top Forecasts
2026-06-05 12:32
By
Joana Taborda
1 min. read
The US economy added 172K jobs in May 2026, well above forecasts of 85K, and following an upwardly revised 179K gain in the previous month, continuing to point to a resilient labour market.
Job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality (70K), mainly food services and drinking places (48K); local government (55K), health care (35K) and manufacturing (7K).
Employment in financial activities declined by 22K, mostly insurance carriers and related activities (-11K) and commercial banking (-3K).
Meanwhile, employment in transportation and warehousing was essentially unchanged (+1K) and other industries including construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, professional and business services also saw little changes.
In addition, upward revisions to the March figures added to the strength of the report, with employment levels in March and April now estimated to be 93K higher than previously reported.